


Battle Lines

by loversilence



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-04
Updated: 2014-05-04
Packaged: 2018-01-21 22:20:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1566080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loversilence/pseuds/loversilence
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Army!AU. They shouldn't have fell in love. But while fighting the enemy and their demons inside - they found solace in each other, something neither of them were willing to lose.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Battle Lines

**Author's Note:**

> This is an Ian and Mickey Army AU. I am writing this for me - and for him, but with that I hope you enjoy the journey. 
> 
> Set in 2008 before Don't Ask Don't Tell was abolished.

It's hot. You feel the sting of the sweat on the newly formed blister on your heel. You have been at Fort Sill for two weeks and your boots still haven't been broke in. You didn't mind being sweaty and dirty, but the heat combined with all this gear made you miserable. Heat rash was the norm and they didn't get a chance to fully heal.

It's times like this that made you question why you even signed up for this hell. Honestly deep down you know you didn't have a choice, it was either this or staying with Terry and you know sure as shit how that would have ended up. The recruiter made the army seem like an oasis away from the South Side. You make a mental note to punch him in his bullshitting face.

"Private Milkovich! Are we interrupting your sight seeing or is your pansy ass going to get back to his fucking group?"

You try to swallow, but your mouth feels like sandpaper. You forgot to fill your canteen before you left camp, but you kept your mouth shut because you know SFC Davis would have made you do 100 push ups and dry humped back to camp - making you miss this lesson.

You jog back over to the group. There are five of you, the mission is to use the map and compass and find your way to the makeshift extraction point. So far the other four in your group act like they have never read a map before, making you the one in charge.

"Just hand it over." You grap the map and look around the point looks about 2 klicks SouthEast of here. Just fucking great another mile long walk.

"Point of extraction is 2 klicks Southeast" You shove the map back at Private Dale - Dean, whatever his fucking name was.

Everyone begins to follow you- and out of the corner of your eye you see SFC Davis looking at you with a slight smile. Great. _Fucking great_. You didn't join the military to be some hero or some leader, you just wanted to get these four years over with without getting killed and go home.

It wasn't much of a home. Your mom died when you were 8 and your father was an abusive drunk who couldn't keep himself out of prison. Mandy was the only thing keeping you there, your sister reminded you of your mom - she had the hardness around her but you knew she was secretly fragile. Maybe when you got out you could get an apartment somewhere and she could leave that place. The South Side normally swallowed people whole, it was a place that few people made it out of - and if you did you would always carry a piece of it with you.

At this point your mouth can't even make saliva, and you are starting to become weak. You see the end point, so you begin to pick up the pace. You keep chanting _all you have to do is make it back to camp. That's it._ Not much further. You can do it. You began to to feel the ground spinning. Oh shit this is not good, the last thing you remember before everything go back is your fathers voice telling you that you are a piece of shit.

You hear the sounds of machines beeping, and you automatically know your are in the medical zone. You almost want to keep your eyes closed. Not waking up and facing the shit from the Sergeant or the looks from the Medic's in training. You try peeking out of one eye to see who was around. Bad move, one of the Medic's saw you.

"Your awake. I am Specialist (SPC) Thompson. You were diagnosed with dehydration. I am going to set these ice chips here and I am going to need you to suck on them. Can you do that? PVT Milkovich?"

"Yeah. Got it. Thanks." You have a massive headache, and you probably would have told her anything to make her go away. You place an ice chip in your mouth because you know she is still looking and with a satisfying smirk she turns and goes away. The cold ice melts in your mouth, and you begin to take in your surroundings. Most of the beds were empty, some were filled with people looking for a discharge.

All of a sudden you hear a familiar voice. One that sends chills up your spine and you are not quite sure why yet.

"Mickey?"

You turn around and come smack in the face of someone from the SouthSide. Your pissed but yet for some reason you feel an odd comfort.

"Gallagher? The fuck you doing here?"

You know him because of his friendship with Mandy, and the fact that his smartass older brother was dating her - or fucking whatever. Also, his father Frank Gallagher was almost as shitty as Terry. Almost.

 "Well I wanted to join the army since I was 13. Now that I am old enough - well here I am."

You roll your eyes. "Not the Army. Jesus. I mean what are you getting Medic care?"

Your eyes take him in. His red hair cut close to his head, and his hazel eyes peering right into you. He looked healthy. No cuts or bruises. Not that you cared.

"Oh. I got bit by a snake on the last mission. Shit just popped out of nowhere man. And now because I missed so much they are moving me to Delta Platoon. I heard they were all fuckups. So that should be fun."

You get jolted. That was your platoon. Anger fills you - sure you had some dumbasses in your platoon, but they were your dumbasses.

"Fuck you. Our platoon gets shit done just like the rest of you. Just because we don't ass kiss every fucker in here doesn't mean shit."

You look at his face. It was full of surprise and a little bit of guilt. Your anger falters a bit, but not much. People have called you a fuck up all your life, you joined this shit to escape that, not have it follow you here.

"I - I didn't mean it like that. I was just going off by what some of the people in my old platoon were saying."

Your eyes met his, but you don't say anything. You just quickly look away and pop another ice chip in your mouth before you end up saying something you regret. Your mouth tended to get you in trouble most of the time. And that's the last thing you need here.

He breaks the stiff silence that had fallen between you two.

"Mandy will be glad that we will both be together. She will think we can keep an eye out for each other."

You look over at him eyebrows raised. "Mandy wants you to babysit me?"

"I doubt it since we are both seeking medic care"

Suddenly he bursts out laughing. A laugh that sounds like music to your ears, it's the type of laugh that causes you to smile a little. This starts feeling nice to you - too nice. Quickly you begin to push those thoughts out of your head and your stern scowl comes back.

"Good. Because the last thing I need is someone who thinks they need to take care of me."

Ian shakes his head in agreement. "I know. Same here."

Instead of the voice in your head that was your constant reminder of were you came from now took the shape of a real person. And what is bothering you the most is that your are not sure why your gut feels like it is not only welcoming it - but wanting it. 


End file.
